Over the past five years, the global cord blood banking industry has substantially matured and consolidated. This has created both serious threats and novel opportunities for the industry. Serious threats to the industry include low rates of utilization for stored cord blood, expensive cord blood transplantation procedures, difficulty educating obstetricians about cellular therapies, and an increasing trend toward industry consolidation.

Marketing pressures are also impacting the industry, with the term "cord blood" being one of the 20 most expensive search terms on Google. Winning online traffic through Google AdWords for the search phrase "Cord Blood" now costs $45.87 in the U.S. When all locations are allowed, the cost for acquiring online traffic through Google AdWords for the phrase "Cord Blood" is $32.91.

Digital competition for cord blood has also been growing increasingly competitive, with cord blood banks competing for online viewership of ads, website content, and ultimately, clients. Most cord blood banks are using Google Adwords to display advertisements within Google Search as a method of acquiring online visitors. Industry leaders are also publishing enormous quantities of industry-relevant content to dominate in organic (non-paid) online search.

However, there are also emerging opportunities for the industry, such as accelerated regulatory pathways for cell therapies in leading countries worldwide, including the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. Cord blood banks are diversifying into new types of stem cell storage, including cord tissue storage, placental stem cells, amniotic stem cells, menstrual stem cells, adipose tissue, and more.

Holding companies are emerging as a global theme, allowing for increased operational efficiency and economy of scale. Cryoholdco has been acquiring cord blood banks throughout Latin America and Sanpower Group has been collecting them within Asia. Additionally, growing investment is flowing into cord blood stem cell expansion technologies. Key strategies being explored for this purpose include nicotinamide-mediated (NAM) expansion, Notch ligand, SR-1, UM171, PGE2, and enforced fucosylation. Major market players competing in this space include Gamida Cell Ltd, Nohla Therapeutics, Novartis, Fate Therapeutics, and others.

Finally, growing numbers of investors are entering the cord blood banking marketplace, led by groups such as:

ABS Capital Partners & HLM Management

KKR & Company

Bay City Capital

GTCR, LLC

Excalibur

While market factors can vary by geography, it is crucial to have a global understanding of the market. Research advances, clinical trial findings, and technology advances do not know international boundaries. The cord blood market is global in nature and understanding dynamics limited to your region is not sufficient for making strategic, informed, and profitable decisions.

Today, cord blood banks now exist in every developed country, as well as within most developing nations. With approximately 450 companies marketing cord blood banking services worldwide, maturation of the market means that each company is fighting harder for market share. While the U.S. cord blood banking industry is the most mature cord blood banking market in the world, Asia is extremely close behind and growing more quickly than the U.S. market.

In 2016, Sanpower Group and its subsidiary Nanjing Cenbest announced the acquisition of China Cord Blood Corporation (NYSE:CO) and Shandong Cord Blood Bank, positioning it to hold four licenses out of the only seven issued provincial-level cord blood bank licenses in China. According to the company, Sanpower Group has "reserved 800,000 cord blood samples at home, and the associated reserves nearly amount to 1,100,000 when counting in the Cordlife reserves across various Southeast Asian countries and regions." This positions Sanpower Group and its subsidiary Nanjing Cenbest as the world's largest cord blood banking operator not only in China and Southeast Asia, but in the world.

Currently, the largest cord blood bank in the United States, Cord Blood Registry, reports to have nearly 700,000 cord blood and tissue units in storage, positioning it substantially behind Sanpower Group. With CBR controlling more than 50% of the market share in the U.S. and Sanpower Group controlling more than 50% of the market share in China, these two entities are the largest cord blood operators in the world.

Other regions have witnessed major events as well. In 2008, a Taiwanese company, HealthBanks Biotech Company Ltd. became the first company to offer cord tissue storage. It was not until July 2010 that the first private U.S. cord blood bank began offering the service (Cord Blood Registry). Since then, the trend of cord tissue storage has had a major impact on the cord blood banking industry, with a large percentage of cord blood banks offering the service worldwide.

In China, the government shocked the industry by announcing that only one cord blood bank would be allowed to operate within each province, and official government support, authorization, and permits would be required.

In Italy and France, it is illegal to privately store one's cord blood, which has fully eliminated the potential for a private market to exist within the region.

In Ecuador, the government is now creating the first public cord blood bank and has instituted laws such that private cord blood banks cannot approach women about private cord blood banking options during the first six months of pregnancy. This created a crisis for the private banks, and there are now only two remaining in Ecuador.

Clearly, it is vital to understand market dynamics and risks, as well as the emerging opportunities, within different regions of the world.